Storms later & haze with 90’s

NEW MEXICO (KRQE) – Hazy conditions with rain-free conditions are present across most of the region this morning, except for a few southward-moving showers that are dissipating with less-numerous rumbles of thunder just to the west of Highway 84 in-between near Dulce and Chama on the northern side to the northwest of Los Alamos on the southern edge. Upper-level winds from the high pressure system in The Great Basin to the west is steering wildfire smoke from The Pacific Northwest and from Southwest Canada into New Mexico in a clockwise fashion, creating the haziness in the skies. Some of that smoke has settled near the surface, leading to slightly worse air quality, especially in The Northern Mountains and even closer to The Mexico border, with some of that in The Rio Grande Valley as well. Easterly winds, albeit light, are drifting some of that settled smoke to the west. At the same time, this has allowed for low-level tropical moisture to still remain in place despite thinning out a bit compared to mornings past as relatively cool air is still also present to start off.

Temperatures are slightly higher this morning despite starting off near or below normal for many with temperatures in the high 30’s, 40’s, and 50’s for most of the mountain communities, while valley locations are starting off in the 60’s and low 70’s. As temperatures rise into the 70’s, 80’s, and 90’s across the region, lingering moisture in the air, with the daytime heating, may still lead to some pockets of rainfall, especially in The Gila National Forest and from the mountain ranges of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains to The Sacramento Mountains. Burn-scar flash flooding will be possible in the northern mountains especially, but even less likely than days past. A few of the thunderstorms may initially be slow-moving as they form early this afternoon around the burn scars of Santa Fe and also Ruidoso, but then, the storms may strengthen while speeding up this afternoon across a small portion of The Rio Grande Valley eventually. Very localized pockets of heavy rain, small hail, strong winds, and some lightning strikes are still possible with a few of the storms in the short term.

Drier and warmer air will win out for the next couple of days until The Monsoon high pressure starts to creep back closer to the east on Friday, bringing in more moisture back to the region while funneling in more near-surface tropical moisture from the south. This trend will be brief as temperatures will remain above normal ahead, especially as things dry out once again later this weekend. Smoky skies for some with relatively poor air quality and pockets of low visibility are still possible with these changes ahead.

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